Amazon`s Kindle Redefines Electronic Books - Final Thoughts
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Final Thoughts
We’ve come to the end of this article. Now it’s time for us to conclude our discussion of some of the Kindle’s advantages and drawbacks while searching for the answer to whether the e-book reader is a feasible device that comes close to replacing traditional analog books.
First of all, I think this device needs a solid import function as well as support for a wider range of formats. Next, its design could be improved. It could be made a bit less awkward; perhaps Amazon could learn something from Apple on how to design your gadgets neat and stylish. As much as others I’d also want a non-limited MP3 player because shuffle kills the fun, and perhaps an optional backlight when external light source isn’t possible.
Project Gutenberg is the first and largest collection of free electronic books. Right now there are over 20,000 free books in their online catalog and a grand total of more than 100,000 titles with the help of numerous partners and affiliates worldwide. All of these books are freely distributable because their copyrights have simply expired. You can download all of these books, convert them, use them, and do whatever you want.
Taking in consideration that all of the titles that you purchase via the Kindle Store are DRM-protected in their very own particular format (AZW) and limited to your own device, you really cannot assume any kind of long-term guarantee. Everybody knows that technologies are evolving and newer standards are always emerging. Simply put, a particular format that’s close-sourced risks not getting further support and vanishing quickly within a few years.
I am by no means claiming that PDF will remain mainstream and the norm with an infinite lifespan, although I am pretty damn sure that its support will be upgraded and taken care of in the future regardless of newer standards. Also, simply because it’s that much more widespread, people need PDF support right “out of box” without hassles to convert to proprietary extensions either via paid service or third party applications.
Not adding PDF support is a fearful marketing approach, in my opinion. Should Amazon add PDF support then the reader would end up being sold worldwide, exported via various endeavors, and ultimately used by hundreds of people. Then the dilemma arises: can Amazon be sure that all of those customers would still use the Kindle Store to purchase their e-books and not upload illegally downloaded PDF versions?
Furthermore, what about that utterly silly function to limit the MP3 player to “shuffle-only” mode? It is clear that they’ve done it with the idea to exclude the chance to listen to audio books. Why, you ask? Market control! You can listen to your music tracks in randomization mode as background music while you are reading… it makes sense. But what if I want to listen to my favorite album with the tracks in their original order?
All in all, Amazon would lose its control over the market and risk failing to monopolize digitization of conventional books. They want it Apple’s way; they want to mimic iPod’s success. Not everybody can imitate Steve Jobs or Bill Gates; what worked for them years ago are (perhaps) business strategies that are outdated now.
Summing these up, Amazon’s Kindle is no doubt a revolutionary product, an e-book reader that does what it’s meant to do. It works all right despite some of its flaws and indeed it is easier on the eyes -- but so are all of its competitors based on the E Ink’s e-paper display technology. However, the only new advantage that it brings to the field of digital book readers is its wireless EVDO connection and the ability to download content without accessing a computer at all. This is a big pro for some people.
Still, this feature means that it is limited to the US. It cannot even be marketed and/or sold worldwide. The device is strongly centralized. Almost all of its features depend on its wireless connection (excluding reading per se). Oh, and if you don’t have Sprint coverage then basically you’re doomed. Everything is also centralized to your Kindle account which monitors and handles DRMs.
My conclusion is that the Kindle right now is too expensive and it is not worth its sales price. I’d expect at least PDF support, a sophisticated MP3 player, a color display, and some notch of decentralization. It would be great to have the ability to do something with it –- anything -– once I connect it to my computer, such as add content. And for the Kindle Store, what about more accounts to share titles with a few people like spouse, kid(s), relatives…?
If neither of the aforementioned cons is a strong no-no for you then I suggest trying out Kindle. If you are an avid reader and generally not tech-savvy, I guess you’d really benefit the most of Kindle. I prefer to control my gadgets, not viceversa. What’s more, I’d add “folder-like” control on the device’s menu too. It would help a lot once multiple format support is added. However, these should not be deal-breakers.
Therefore, the Kindle targets the main audience of readers, especially those that get through multiple books each month; for those people I’m pretty damn sure that Amazon’s e-book reader is a hell of a deal. Probably they won’t care about the future-proof-ness of the DRMed AWZ format; hence they save almost 60 percent or more per book.
The fact that its display imitates a rustic paper-like appearance is a big advantage because it’s easy on the eyes, looks great in bright sunlight, and needs zero power to maintain the display (it consumes only when flipping pages). Due to its internal EV-DO modem and the way Amazon hooked up with Whisper, it’s a definite deal-maker for travelers.
For those of you who are not regular computer users and don’t carry laptop(s) wherever you are going, then this device also gives you access to the Internet, a powerful American English dictionary, Wikipedia-on-demand, and discounts on books. Just like Jeff Bezos said, “it’s not a gadget, it’s a service.”
However, if you’re like me and care about media portability, really need support for PDF formats, and would like at least a bit more of an aesthetic design, then perhaps going with iRex’s iLiad might be a better option. If you regularly have access to a computer and you don’t mind manually uploading content to your e-book reader then it is the way to go.
Anyway, we can conclude that neither of these e-book readers have achieved a position of evolution where we would end up convinced that the time of analog books is over. But an explosion in the popularity of digitized books just won’t happen in the near future, despite the past efforts, including the current Kindle, which could end be following the footsteps of other competitor e-book readers that didn’t become “giant successes.”
Traditional books do take up a lot of space and weigh a lot, but they have unlimited battery life. Couple that with a format that has indefinite support if you care about storing them in appropriate locations. The fonts won’t go away and you can pick it up any time and be able to read it. The bummer, however, is that unfortunately you cannot search for a specific keyword to open the book on that particular page.
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